How to adjust to DRY lanes

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GrumpyCatFace
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How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by GrumpyCatFace »

So, in the spirit of the Nord THS thread, I'd like to ask some of you experts for advice.

A few days ago, I bowled my new high score - a 210! I've only been bowling regularly for about 6 months, so it's a big deal for me. :)

I have a relaxed 'stroker' shot, cocking my wrist to the left on the approach, and keeping it there, at about 45 degreesish, thorughout the shot. I've learned to relax my shoulder, and just let it flow (finally), resulting in some level of consistency. I only have one ball - a Storm Hyroad, and it's working beautifully most of the time.

The very next day, in my Trio League, I couldn't connect with anything. Same shot, different result. The ball was snapping hard at the end of the lane, crossing brooklyn, or leaving splits. It was a real mess. I moved as far inside as possible - laydown around 25, and targeting 15ish at the dots.

As the set went on, I realized that there was ZERO oil showing up on the ball. Like, maybe a tiny smear occaisionally, and just the usual grime otherwise. I think (because I have no other explanation), that the lanes weren't oiled before the league started.

So, what other adjustments were possible? Would polishing the ball have made it better or worse? (I just ordered some polish from Amazon).
Throwing it harder would just make me fling it around, and miss my marks. Further inside, I'm just washing out - I can't rev it enough to come back.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by 44boyd »

reduce the cupping/cocking of the wrist can lengthen motion. Spreading the pinky away from ring finger can cut down on the backend reaction. Learn to bowl at different speeds about 3mph variance. Play around with these in practice so you can use them when the normal shot is too much or little.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by Arkansas »

Keeping your hand behind the ball more throughout the release can cut down on your rotation and tame the backend motion. You can also trying lofting the ball out on the lane a little bit.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by GrumpyCatFace »

Thanks guys. The confusing this was though, that even when I hit the pocket, it was still just barely making impact. I left a 2-4-5-7-10 split twice!

As far as I know, this is from “burning up”. So the answer is still less revs?
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by kajmk »

GCF, I'm including the link an article by Ron Clifton on handling Dry lanes.
Ron has I think upwards of 40 articles.

The link on Handling Dry Lanes.
http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/tip27.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Splinters off the top of my head.

Always leave your ego outside the lanes.

All that matters are the wins and losses, the scores are only for the ego.
If 150 wins, it wins.

"When struggling, go to school on the lanes". Find out who is using "what" and "where" on your pair and other pairs.

Your physiology will always be a major factor. As Tom Kouros reminded us, "like it or not, we are all limited in what we can do".

Changes to your game take dedicated, focused practice. We should realize that despite the abundance of high scores, bowling is not really as easy as it appears to many.

Earl Anthony commented that mastering Speed Control was one of the toughest variables.

If you bring a ball to shoot spares (plastic and layed out for spares), there are times when that will be your go to ball.
James Talley "Arkansas" suggested stay behind the ball and straighten out the shot, is a very wise choice. Works pretty well for Walter Ray.

Try softer, sometimes less is more.

You should consider adding another strike ball to your arsenal. Discuss options with your PSO, where you bowl etc.

No matter what, never give up the pocket.

Developing several types of release takes dedicated practice. Do that while ALWAYS placing a highly visible mark on your PAP.
In baseball a pitcher does not always have a complete set of effective pitches every day, when that is the case, he uses what does.

I'd advise you add practicing accuracy and repeatability in your practice sessions.
Connecting the dots on a straight line to the 5 points of contact on each pin as detailed in the
Week 7 video - do that with a plastic ball. The objective is hitting the point of contact on the pin. Learning where to stand, where to slide, body alignment, this will commit your swing to the line. It is the ability to swing ON LINE THRU YOUR TARGETS that will be an invaluable asset. When you can do it and be aware how it FEELS, you will be more able to use that skill in conjunction with a book ball.
http://wiki.bowlingchat.net/wiki/index. ... ence_video" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No matter what you are practicing, ALWAYS have that PAP marker on.

Higher Axis Tilt, adds skid and length. Changing TILT takes practice.

Always POST every shot, ALWAYS.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by GrumpyCatFace »

Now that is some good stuff, thank you.

One thing that you mentioned struck a chord with me off the bat - what the other bowlers are doing.
We were playing against a team of... nice people, that were throwing straight balls. We had to give them 80 pins, due to handicaps. I realized later that 2 of the 3 were throwing reactive balls!

I know that this could suck up some oil in the middle, but enough to destroy the shot completely? Could it have that much effect after 6 bowlers on a pair?

My teammates are a righty down-and-in that usually plays first arrow, a lefty that plays a slow, giant hook to the edge of the gutter, and myself - a Stroker usually playing the middleish. We all had sub-par games, but I was the most affected by far.

I tried moving outside, but I still was hitting very weak. I think that’s where I should have stayed though.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by kajmk »

There is a key phrase in this scene ...

[youtube][/youtube]

The old adage, when in Rome do as the Romans do applies.

Years ago the was a pro football game, the field was horrible, at half time, one team switched to sneakers. That adjustment won the game.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by boomer »

GrumpyCatFace wrote:Now that is some good stuff, thank you.

One thing that you mentioned struck a chord with me off the bat - what the other bowlers are doing.
We were playing against a team of... nice people, that were throwing straight balls. We had to give them 80 pins, due to handicaps. I realized later that 2 of the 3 were throwing reactive balls!

I know that this could suck up some oil in the middle, but enough to destroy the shot completely? Could it have that much effect after 6 bowlers on a pair?

My teammates are a righty down-and-in that usually plays first arrow, a lefty that plays a slow, giant hook to the edge of the gutter, and myself - a Stroker usually playing the middleish. We all had sub-par games, but I was the most affected by far.

I tried moving outside, but I still was hitting very weak. I think that’s where I should have stayed though.
We get those all the time - they typically roll right up the middle, or even if they shoot from the corner it ends up in the middle pretty quickly. Yeah, they spray around the lane, but not really enough to carve any line where "we" should be. You know?

Here's the problem with dry lanes - your high rotation is going to burn up. Your high rotation is great on oily lanes because you can store all that rotational energy for the latter part of the lane where it can be used to accelerate that rotational energy into forward momentum. But with dry, you're burning it all up before you get to the end.

This is why, if you look at the Belmo's and other high rotation pros, if it's oily, they move WAAAAY left and even loft the end cap (I'm illustrating extreme here) so they can stay in the oil and preserve that energy. If they bowl outside, they just burn up the energy.

So, for us mortals, to preserve energy, we can take rotation OFF the ball and roll it more. This can allow us to shape the ball's action to suit the dry condition. Slide out your pinky - it then acts as a bit of a "brake" to rotating, and try to keep your hand behind the ball more. It may not be your A game, but if you practice it, you can have a B game to fall back on.

In my present house, the conditions were dry-dry-dry for quite a while - so in addition to trying to roll it more, I also got everything polished - allowed the balls to slide farther, and combined with my trying to roll more, got me more length and kept some energy for the pocket.

I should NOT have polished EVERYTHING, though since when they started putting more oil down, I was hosed. Pun intended! LOL


Remember, it's about how the ball enters the pocket. Our job is to get the ball THERE at the proper angle and with energy. :)
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by GrumpyCatFace »

Well, that’s what I was thinking - polish the ball next time, to substitute for oil. But how do you remove polish? Would TacUp do it?
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by 44boyd »

Ideal would be to have a second ball for the medium to dry conditions. If your going to stick with one, I’d recommend taking it to 4000 instead of adding polish so it can be useful when there is oil.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by GrumpyCatFace »

Went back today to practice on a completely dry lane (they all are), and made the adjustments.

There’s nowhere to go inside, when it’s like that, so the options were to “suitcase” it, or just straighten my line.

Well, when I use the suitcase, my speed seems to go up no matter what, and I send it skidding into the 6-pin. I had much better results when simply straightening my line a bit, so I guess that’s going to be my go-to move.

I’m still curious about ball polish though. Can I simply apply and remove it as needed, or does it tend to hang around for a while? Are there downsides to it?

I really don’t want to be changing the grit unless I have to. Far too easy to ruin a ball that way, as I’ve learned.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by 44boyd »

Polish will give you skid but react sharper when it hits the dry. 4000 will give you more length and not as much snap as polish. Regardless you have to touch up surface about every 6 games, get some pads and play with reaction and see what works for you.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by kajmk »

Remember to discuss equipment options with your PSO.
The more your PSO knows about YOU, the better. Ditto where and when you bowl.
Remember the type of weight blocks (symmetric or asymmetric) layouts including balance holes are very important.
They will impact the shape of the shot.
Flare potential.
Also, I would imagine some surfaces are more versatile in terms of liking to be varied.
While a hard snap looks impressive, it is harder to control.
The gross weight of the ball will impact your ability to manipulate the ball.
You need to find your goldilocks weight!

Oh yes, the relationship of ball to lane is like tire to road.
Friction effects both. Ultimately, the ball track will equal the grit of the land surface.

Happy hunting.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by stevespo »

GrumpyCatFace wrote: I’m still curious about ball polish though. Can I simply apply and remove it as needed, or does it tend to hang around for a while? Are there downsides to it?
Polish is a confusing term because it's something you apply to the ball, but it is also a process that physically alters the surface.

It's not like furniture "polish" which is an oil or wax that sits on the wood. Bowling ball polish is a very fine abrasive (in some type of liquid carrier) that is actually removing material and leaving a glossy surface.

Changing the grit is something I do (almost) every time I bowl. Small changes by hand at the lane won't ever wear out a ball. Aggressive sanding with 360/500 on a spinner might over time, but even so a few seconds of moderate pressure are about all I use (rotating to expose all "6" sides). I've been doing this regularly with some equipment for years, no problems - logos and serial number still intact.

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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by GrumpyCatFace »

Well, as it turns out, the center I’ve been going to doesn’t oil at all until before leagues. I guess that explains a lot. Not much point in practicing there, even with the “free summer bowling” for league members. Very disappointing.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by 44boyd »

That’s when you can learn to hit marks and not worry about results. Play with different hand positions to see what you can do to make the ball move. Work on spares etc..
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by jazlar »

GrumpyCatFace wrote:Well, as it turns out, the center I’ve been going to doesn’t oil at all until before leagues. I guess that explains a lot. Not much point in practicing there, even with the “free summer bowling” for league members. Very disappointing.
A lot of places are like that, especially during the summer. Could be best to take plastic or weak urethane (like a Mix) if you have one.
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by stevespo »

44boyd wrote:That’s when you can learn to hit marks and not worry about results. Play with different hand positions to see what you can do to make the ball move. Work on spares etc..
Yeah, I'm with Stacy on this one.

While it might not be a condition you'll compete on regularly, it's still a good challenge for practice. Work on fundamentals. Post every shot. Hit the pocket. Make spares. Shoot a few games of low ball. There are endless things to work on.

The more demanding the condition, the more it will help you when you get up in the 10th and have to make a spare to win.

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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by kajmk »

44boyd wrote:That’s when you can learn to hit marks and not worry about results. Play with different hand positions to see what you can do to make the ball move. Work on spares etc..
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Re: How to adjust to DRY lanes

Post by krava »

I am not sure what balls you have. If the lanes are really dry and everything hooks crazy then let me ask you this.


#1 Do you have a urethane ball (like Nord?) and if so what happens when you use that? if that still hooks too much you might want to think about getting a track spare +. it is a shiny plastic ball with a weight block. I haven't yet been to a dry enough lane where that thing provided too much hook. I have had it plenty where it is difficult to make spares since even throwing the ball straight it hooked 5 boards more then usual even with a bent wrist straight behind the ball release.

I haven't delt with dry lanes in a while now though. I recommend the spare + or urethane if you move so far left that you aren't comfortable and it is still hooking way too much. Move right and use that. But you still can't cup your wrist and throw it trying to rotate it a lot. I would throw it come straight out of it on the side and not pull my fingers though the ball.
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